Educating Successful Students

Educational access and success are typically framed as 'getting into' and 'staying in' college, getting good grades at graduating. When one is facing significant barriers to accessing and completing a college education, framing access and success in this way is necessary and right. But if one stops there, most of us would agree that we are not serving the interests of students as individuals or as part of a collective public. In my essay I would like to reflect on the ways in which engaged scholarship contributes to 'successful' students. I will argue that institutions and particularly faculties need to explore their own roles in student success that is measured much more broadly than simply counting who graduates. Our research on faculty here at HERI provides interesting contrasts between faculty beliefs and behaviors that I will draw upon. I also want to mention work with the UCLA Center for Community Partnerships, which provides an example of supporting graduate students who represent future faculty members as they take on research projects in collaboration with communities and faculty mentors. My premise is that training faculty and building their capacity and inclination to conduct engaged scholarship benefits all students, but in particular may strengthen the success of students who have not thrived in traditional academic settings. Ultimately I want to challenge readers to consider how the academy has measured success.[author]